Polibienestar Research Institute

The Polibienestar Research Institute is a Public Research Institute belonging to the University of Valencia (Spain). It is specialised in research, innovation and social technology, technical advice and training in the field of public policies. Its final mission is the improvement of the Welfare and Quality of Life of society.

Polibienestar is composed by an interdisciplinary team with 34 senior and 24 junior researchers with national and European experience from the departments of Preventive Medicine and Public Health; Didactics and School Organisation; Educational Sciences; Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment; Applied Economics; Marketing; Labour and Social Security Law; Commercial Law; Social Work and Social Services; Sociology and Social Anthropology, from eight Universities: Valencia, Castilla-León, Murcia, Castellón, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Pais Vasco.

This diverse range of disciplines allows us to carry out interdisciplinary research, innovation and social technology, technical advice and training in the field of public policies and assessment in issues regarding: social inclusion; social and health systems; informal caregivers; healthcare, telemonitoring and homecare, social welfare, assistive technologies for dependent elderly, sustainability, ICT, efficiency and quality of long-term care systems and accessibility.

Project Team

Jorge Garcés Ferrer

Email

Job title

Professor and Director of Polibienestar

ALTAS Role

Main researcher

Jorge Garces Ferrer is a Professor at the University of Valencia and Director of Polibienestar Research Institute. He occupies the Prince of Asturias Chair at Georgetown University (Washington) since January 2014. He has also been visiting professor at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam (The Netherlands), as well as visiting researcher at the Universities of Washington, Oxford and Cambridge. He is member of The Gerontological Society of America and the Council for European Studies.

As a social scientist, he develops his work in Polibienestar. His research has been focused on Comparative Social Policy in Europe, especially on ageing and social innovation and on the increase of efficiency and effectiveness of long term care policies in Europe. He has been main researcher or member of research teams in nearly 100 projects and research contracts with European, Regional and Local Administrations. He has participated as an expert in the Commission of Social Policy of the Spanish Parliament and in different committees organized by the European Commission.

He is the author/ co-author of 25 books and more than 100 scientific papers and he has participated in almost 200 national and international conferences especially related to social policies. His work has appeared in publishers of international prestige such as Nova Publishers, Routledge, McGraw-Hill and Peter Lang.

He has also published essays and opinion articles by the specialized press, as well as some books on Valencian costumbrist literature and children’s literature.

In 2009 he awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of San Pedro in the Republic of Peru, in 2013 by the Autonomous University of Encarnación (Paraguay) and in 2016 by the University Jaume I of Catellón. In 2015 the University of Burgos has awarded him with a medal for the services provided.

Ascensión Doñate Martínez

Job title

Researcher

ALTAS Role

Project Manager and Researcher

Ascension Donate Martinez is a Psychologist, Master in Neurosciences and researcher at Polibienestar in topics such as health promotion, dependence or active & healthy ageing. She develops her PhD in the field of Social Sciences focused on the management of patients with chronic diseases. She has experience in European programmes, such as: Erasmus+, LifeLong Learning, VII Framework, II & III Health Programme, AAL, COST Actions or III Daphne.

The results of her research have been published in journals indexed at ISI-Journal Citation Reports, such as Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics; and, moreover, she has presented at a large number of national and international scientific and academic conferences.

She has experience in teaching in the Degree of Social Work at the University of Valencia about research on social welfare systems. She has been visiting researcher in the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and in the University of Iceland.

Barbara Branchini

Job title

Researcher

ALTAS Role

Researcher

Barbara Branchini is a Political Scientist who currently works in the field of health policies and policies design, implementation and evaluation. She has experience in the project management within international environments and in different sectors, such as research organizations, NGOs, public authorities and the private sector in the fields of health, social care, education, equality, innovation and participatory processed for the local development. She has managed several R&D projects and proposals in the fields of Energy, ICT (BI, eHealth, TeleHealth, Videogames, Advergaming), Transport, Learning, Cooperation for Development in the areas of agro-food, textile and political advocacy.

She joins the Polibienestar group for policies assessment, cooperating in the elaboration and development of strategic and sectorial plans addressed to regional and local public authorities.